Proposals announced last week in the United Kingdom would give Scotland more autonomy over taxation, social programs, welfare spending, and election procedure. The changes were promised by Prime Minister David Cameron during the run-up to Scotland’s September referendum on independence–if Scotland did not secede. After the vote, which failed 55% to 45%, Alex Salmond, the Scottish National Party official who had led the charge for independence, stepped down as the country’s first minister (or political leader).

Put another way: An election was held and there were consequences. Political leaders heard what the voters were saying and responded.

The British Parliament in a resounding 524-43 vote Friday approved airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq although not in Syria. British Prime Minister David Cameron, who called Parliament back from recess to debate the matter, said, “The hallmarks of this campaign will be patience and persistence, not shock and awe.”

It was a not-so-veiled reference to the Bush administration’s long, costly and ultimately unsuccessful war in Iraq and former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s support for that effort. Read More »

Do American voters grasp the stakes involved in the conflicts roiling the Middle East, Asia and – well – virtually anywhere else you look? Are they prepared to elevate foreign policy to a central issue in the 2016 presidential campaign?

Hillary Clinton’s muscular vision of the U.S. role in the world could create one of the sharpest general election differences between herself and a potential Republican opponent. Read More »

The picture of President Barack Obama shaking the hand of Cuban leader Raul Castro isn’t the only fodder for commentators and late-night TV jokes. Also during at the memorial service for anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela Tuesday in South Africa, Mr. Obama seemed to be having a very friendly chat with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, with First Lady Michelle Obama appearing rather disinterested. And then, there was the selfie with Ms. Thorning-Schmidt and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. Take a look: Read More »

President Barack Obama and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron visited schoolchildren at one of the few integrated schools in Northern Ireland Monday afternoon on the first day of this week’s G-8 summit.

The two visited the Enniskillen Integrated Primary School, the only integrated primary school in County Fermanagh. Founded in the aftermath of the 1987 Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing, in which a Provisional IRA bomb killed 11 people and injured 63 more, the school maintains a careful balance of Catholics and Protestants. Read More »

President Barack Obama is off to Northern Ireland’s Lough Erne resort for a summit with the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. Three agenda items stand out. None involve Asia.

There’s always one pressing issue overshadowing the heavily pre-orchestrated summits. This time it’s Syria, and whether there is any way the G-8 nations can help end bloodshed there. The summit comes just days after Mr. Obama reluctantly decided to send arms to the rebels whom, at the moment, seem to be losing their battle with Syrian President Bashar Assad. That may ease Mr. Obama’s discussions about Syria with European allies, but the most important conversation he’ll have about Syria will be with Assad-backer Vladimir Putin. Mr. Obama’s goal: To persuade Mr. Putin that it is in Russia’s interest to find a way to ease Mr. Assad from power.

The head of the host nation, in this case Britain’s David Cameron, always has some say over G-8 talks. Near the top of his list is corporate taxes, namely, making it harder for companies to dodge taxes by hiding profits in tax havens. Read More »

The Obama administration is preparing to restart efforts to transfer prisoners out of Guantanamo Bay’s prison, part of its plan to try again to shut down the detention center for terror suspects. [WSJ]

John Dickerson (@jdickerson) tries to make sense of the White House’s clumsy handling of the IRS and Benghazi controversies — and how hard it is for any president to stay focused on his priorities and not the crises du jour. [Slate]

Pete Wehner (@Peter_Wehner) wonders whether liberals in the press, “enablers” of the Obama administration, are having second thoughts over revelations of attempts to secretly obtain information from news organizations. His conclusion: “I doubt it.” [Commentary] Read More »

In a joint press conference with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House this morning, President Barack Obama defended his administration’s response to an attack on a diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, and called a Republican-led investigation politically driven and a “sideshow.” Messrs. Obama and Cameron had met in the Oval Office ahead of the news conference to discuss the conflict in Syria, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the strengthening of economic ties.

Here is the transcript of the press conference, as released by the White House:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good morning, everybody. Please have a seat. And to all our moms out there, I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day.

It’s always a great pleasure to welcome my friend and partner, Prime Minister David Cameron. Michelle and I have wonderful memories from when David and Samantha visited us last year. There was a lot of attention about how I took David to March Madness — we went to Ohio. And a year later, we have to confess that David still does not understand basketball — I still do not understand cricket.

As we’ve said before, the great alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom is rooted in shared interests and shared values, and it’s indispensable to global security and prosperity. But as we’ve seen again recently, it’s also a partnership of the heart. Here in the United States, we joined our British friends in mourning the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, a great champion of freedom and liberty and of the alliance that we carry on today. And after the bombings in Boston, we Americans were grateful for the support of friends from around the world, particularly those across the Atlantic. At the London Marathon, runners paused in a moment of silence and dedicated their race to Boston. And David will be visiting Boston to pay tribute to the victims and first responders. Read More »

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will travel to Northern Ireland in June for the Group of Eight leading nations summit and will visit Berlin immediately afterwards “to reaffirm the strong ties” with Germany, Europe’s dominant economy, the White House said Friday.

The White House said the trip will start in Belfast June 17-18, where U.K Prime Minister David Cameron is hosting the G-8 meeting. The Obamas will visit Berlin from June 18-19 to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck. It will be his first trip to Berlin as president, though he went to Germany in 2009.

“The President will travel to Berlin, Germany for an official visit to reaffirm the strong ties between the United States and Germany, our vital ally and economic partner,” White House said in a written statement announcing the trip… Read More »

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.